Department for Transport

Cars

Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government what is their target for reducing car use in the UK; and what date they have set for any percentage reduction in vehicle use to be achieved.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The Government has some of the most ambitious targets in the world to decarbonise the UK’s transport system, targets which are monitored and enforced by the Climate Change Committee. However, these are compatible with various levels of car use, and so there is no specific target to reduce car use.

Aviation: China

Lord Strathcarron: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish the scientific evidence and data upon which the COVID-19 rules in place for passengers on direct flights from China to England are based; and what assessment they have made of (1) the cost ofimposing the rules,and (2) whether the benefits of the rules outweigh their costs.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The basis for the decision to introduce pre-departure and post-arrival testing for passengers arriving from mainland China is the lack of comprehensive health information being shared by China, low confidence in their published case rates and lack of transparency around genomic sequencing. Domestic infection and hospitalisation rates have surged in China and the measures introduced reduce the number of cases being imported and allow us to monitor for variants. The measures are proportionate, targeted and time limited. They are being kept under review and will be removed if no longer necessary. HMG and other international partners are encouraging China to provide greater transparency on their COVID data. Passengers may use a PCR or low-cost lateral flow device as their pre-departure test. Post arrival testing is being managed by UKHSA and it is for them to decide about publishing data.

Driving: Qualifications

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask His Majesty's Government what training they have made available, if any, to enable those with overseas driving qualifications to retrain for work in the UK.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: Those with overseas driving qualifications that are not exchangeable in GB can drive small vehicles (cars up to 3,500kg and motorcycles), provided entitlement is shown on their licence, for 12 months from the date they become resident in GB. During these 12 months, those with overseas driving qualifications are able to retrain for work in the UK. After this time, unless they have a licence from a country designated for driving licence exchange purposes, they are required to take a GB driving test. The 12-month period is a concession that allows drivers who live and regularly drive in GB to continue to do so before having to demonstrate that they comply with the standards that apply to GB licence holders.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Energy: Carbon Emissions

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will set out in a table (1) thecarbon intensity of the national grid, and (2) the relative mix of (a) natural gas, (b) coal, (c) solar power, (d) wind power, (e) hydropower, (f) biomass, (g) nuclear, and (h) other sources of energy used to power the national grid, in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Lord Callanan: The Government does not hold this data in its own right. The enclosed table sets out data provided by the National Grid, in the categories and time intervals requested.HL4917 - National Grid and carbon intensity data (pdf, 61.5KB)

Energy: Meters

Lord Truscott: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to ban the forced use ofgas and electricity prepayment meters.

Lord Callanan: The Government expects energy suppliers to treat their customers fairly and reasonably, while doing all they can to support consumers struggling to pay their bills. As part of Government’s efforts to increase transparency around prepayment meter installations, it has announced a five-point plan. My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State has written to energy suppliers calling on them voluntarily to stop the practice of forcibly installing prepayment meters. He has also called on suppliers to make greater effort to help the most vulnerable, such as offers of additional credit, debt forgiveness or tools such as debt advice.

Energy: Prices

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment theyhave made of efforts by Ofgem to reduce consumer energy prices following the recent fall in inflation.

Lord Callanan: The recent fall in inflation is welcome, however energy markets remain volatile and prices are still well above historical norms. Suppliers buy energy in advance of when it is delivered and Ofgem determines a maximum price suppliers can charge consumers to recover the cost of this through the price cap. The Government has introduced the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) which will save a typical household around £900 this winter, on top of a £400 discount through the Energy Bill Support Scheme.

Britishvolt: Insolvency

Lord Truscott: To ask His Majesty's Government what lessons they have learned from the collapse of Britishvolt; and what assessment they have made of the consequences for battery manufacturing in the UK.

Lord Callanan: As part of our efforts to see British companies succeed in the industry, we offered significant support through the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF). Full due diligence was completed before a final grant offer letter was awarded to Britishvolt. Funding was designed so that agreed milestones had to be achieved for the company to drawdown any funds.  These milestones were not met and therefore no ATF funds were paid to Britishvolt. We want to ensure the UK remains one of the best locations in the world for automotive manufacturing as we transition to electric vehicles. That includes investing record sums in battery R&D – such as the recent announcement of £211 million into the Faraday Battery Challenge, which will help deliver 100,000 jobs in battery gigafactories and the battery supply chain by 2040.

Department of Health and Social Care

Social Services: Finance

Lord Porter of Spalding: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the analysis by the Local Government Association that £13 billion needs to be delivered into social care so that councils can deliver on all their statutory duties so that (1) people of all ages can live an equal life, and (2) the need for hospital treatment is reduced.

Lord Markham: Whilst we have not made a specific analysis of the figure referenced by the Local Government Association, we have assessed the level of funding made available to local authorities for this purpose through the Autumn Statement delivered on 17 November 2022. The Government is providing up to £7.5 billion of additional funding over two years to support adult social care and discharge, which represents a higher than real terms increase and will enable local authorities to deliver tangible improvements in adult social care services. These improvements aim to address discharge delays, social care waiting times, low fee rates, and workforce pressures.

Mental Health Services

Lord Bradley: To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to the Mental Health Act 1983, what plans they have to increase the capacity of (1) places of safety, (2) section 136 suites, and (3) crisis care units, in each Integrated Care Board area in England.

Lord Markham: On 23 January 2023, we set out details on how £150 million of capital investment, first announced at the 2021 Spending Review, will be used to improve mental health urgent and emergency care infrastructure. This includes funding for 150 schemes across the country on a fair shares basis, reaching all 42 integrated care boards.This will support the building and expanding of capacity for health-based places of safety, section 136 suites and mental health assessment, care and treatment units. It will also support crisis cafes, crisis houses and broader improvements to crisis lines and accident and emergency departments, as well as the procurement of up to 100 specialised mental health ambulances over the next two years. This will provide care in more appropriate spaces for those experiencing a mental health crisis and will reduce pressure on wider parts of the healthcare system.

Health: Males

Lord Farmer: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to take a more holistic approach to men’s health, given that there are common underlying factors such as alcohol and drug abuse, and suicide, which are identifiable and frequently preventable.

Lord Markham: The Government is taking action to address conditions that affect men, including suicide, alcohol and drug abuse. As with other major conditions and drivers of ill health, we consider the impact that each issue has at a population level and the most effective ways to address them, including for the groups most impacted. On Tuesday 24 January, in the Written Statement on Major Conditions and Diseases, we announced that we will publish a refreshed suicide prevention strategy. This will reflect the most up to date evidence and address current challenges, risks, and opportunities to prevent suicide. The strategy will set out key areas for action, including those the government will take, to prevent suicide. We will continue working with our expert advisory network to inform this, including the National Advisory Suicide Prevention Strategy Advisory Group chaired by Professor Sir Louis Appleby.

Hospital Beds

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the policy rationale for the reduction to the NHS England hospital bed stock between January 2010 and January 2020.

Lord Markham: The number of hospital beds provided is an operational matter for National Health Service commissioners and providers. NHS trusts will make decisions on their bed stock based on the demand within the local population and other factors such as the increase in the proportion of elective care day cases over time, which reduces the number of hospital beds required for overnight stays. Accounting for the impact of the pandemic, the number of NHS general and acute hospital beds has remained relatively stable from 2015/16, at around 102,000 beds.The NHS is working hard to deliver their winter plan, increasing hospital bed capacity by the equivalent of 7,000 beds. In addition, under the Delivery plan for recovering urgent and emergency care services published on 30 January sets a further 5,000 new beds will be established in 2023/24, alongside expanded use of virtual wards so that up to 50,000 patients a month can benefit from them. This is backed by a £1 billion dedicated fund.

Viral Diseases: Vaccination

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government when the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations (JVCI) willmake a recommendation for the National Immunisation Programme for winter 2023/2024 for respiratory viruses.

Lord Markham: There are many viruses that cause mild upper respiratory tract and more severe lower respiratory tract infections, particularly during the winter. Of these viruses, there are two programmes providing vaccination against influenza and COVID-19 during the autumn and winter.For influenza, on 30 November 2022, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) released its winter 2023/2024 vaccination recommendations on groups eligible and which vaccines to provide.For COVID-19, on 25 January 2023, the JCVI released its interim advice that persons at higher risk of severe COVID-19 could be offered a booster dose in the autumn 2023/2024 programme. This interim advice is released for planning purposes and is subject to change.Additionally, there is a passive immunisation programme for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) with palivizumab, to protect infants at very highest risk from severe RSV infection. The JCVI is currently reviewing a range of new products to combat RSV, and their potential use in the United Kingdom’s immunisation programme. The timing of advice will depend on the timelines for potential licensure and the JCVI having the necessary information on the safety, efficacy, burden, impact and cost-effectiveness of the products to inform the considerations for their use in the immunisation programme.

Coronavirus: Immunosuppression

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask His Majesty's Government what data the COVID-19 Therapeutics Clinical Review Panel are currently reviewing to inform its advice to Government in relation to support for at-risk patient cohorts.

Lord Markham: The Therapeutics Clinical Review Panel (TCRP) periodically reviews new evidence on the definition and revision of eligible cohorts from COVID-19 therapeutics from several sources, including clinical evidence, expert groups and external stakeholders. The Panel will meet again soon to consider more recent evidence on COVID-19 risk, including the National Institute for Health and Care Research rapid study on those who remain vulnerable to poor outcomes from COVID-19 despite vaccination. Following the next meeting, any new recommendations will be published on the TCRP webpage, including a list of the evidence that has been reviewed.

Department for Education

National Union of Students: Antisemitism

Baroness Deech: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Rebecca Tuck KC Independent Investigation into Allegations of Antisemitism within NUS, published on 12 January; and what discussions they have had with the National Union of Students about the implementation of those recommendations.

Baroness Barran: This is a shocking and sobering report showing that the National Union of Students (NUS) has in effect been a hostile place for Jewish students. This is not acceptable. NUS should be a place that is not just safe for Jewish students, but welcoming as well. The department expects the recommendations will be implemented in full and will be monitoring this process. Once that has occurred, the Minister will re-engage with NUS.

Ministry of Justice

Motor Vehicles: Documents

Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the fees set down in (1) the Commissioner for Oaths (Authorised Persons) Fees Order 1993, and (2) the Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicles (Prescribed Sums and Charges) Regulations 2008.

Lord Bellamy: We do not currently have any plans to review the fees set down in the Commissioners for Oaths (Authorised Persons) Fees Order 1993.On 10 January 2023, the Government published the response to its Review of the Statutory Charges which the police can levy when they have exercised their vehicle recovery powers. We will be introducing an increase of 28% to ensure that the vehicle recovery industry can continue to operate sustainably. This consultation did not cover the way in which the police use their power to order vehicle removal, or the operation of recovery schemes and contracts. These are operational matters for the police and National Highways.

Contact Orders

Lord Jackson of Peterborough: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support mediation in disputes that would otherwise require grandparents to apply for Contact Orders in order to have access to their grandchildren.

Lord Bellamy: The Government understands the difficulties that some grandparents face in continuing relationships with their grandchildren following disputes arising from parental separation or divorce, and that grandparents often play an important role in children’s lives and can provide stability in families. We are also committed to supporting families to resolve private family law matters outside of court where appropriate to ensure that matters are resolved earlier, before conflict becomes entrenched.Unless there is a valid exemption, any party seeking to apply for a child arrangements order must first attend a Mediation Information & Assessment Meeting.We have also put in place a mediation voucher scheme for up to £500 financial assistance to help families resolve certain private law children matters outside of court. This support is not limited to parents and grandparents are eligible for support with the costs of mediation under this scheme too.The government is exploring further measures to support parents and wider family members to resolve these matters outside of court and will announce proposals in due course.

Sentencing Council for England and Wales

Lord Jackson of Peterborough: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking toassess the efficacy of the Sentencing Council.

Lord Bellamy: The Sentencing Council is an independent non-departmental public body. Section 119 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 sets out that the Council must provide the Lord Chancellor with an annual report on the exercise of its functions, and that the Lord Chancellor must lay a copy before Parliament. The Ministry of Justice also regularly reviews performance to provide assurance that the Council is fulfilling its statutory functions. In addition, a tailored review of the Council was published in 2019 which made a number of operational recommendations to improve efficiency and effectiveness, which have been implemented.The 2021/22 Annual Report can be found here: https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/publications/item/sentencing-council-annual-report-2021-22/.The 2019 tailored review of the Sentencing Council can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tailored-review-of-the-sentencing-council.

Reparation by Offenders

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government how manyrestorative justice services they plan to have set up by the end of 2023, broken down by the location of those services.

Lord Bellamy: The Ministry of Justice is more than quadrupling funding for victim and witness support services by 2024/25, up from £41m in 2009/10.This includes grant funding for Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to commission local practical, emotional, and therapeutic support services for victims of all crime types. It is at the PCCs’ discretion to allocate this funding for local services, based on their assessment of local need, which could include Restorative Justice services.We collect data and information from PCCs on funding activities and impact on a bi-annual basis, throughout the financial year; we therefore do not yet have any data for 2023.

EU Law

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government which retained EU laws the Ministry of Justice is planning to reform or revoke in the event of a passage into law of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill.

Lord Bellamy: We are currently reviewing each piece of retained EU law for which the Ministry of Justice is responsible to decide whether it should remain on the statute book, and if so whether it should in due course be amended using powers in the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, or whether it should be left to sunset.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Peru: Politics and Government

Baroness Coussins: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of protests in Peru following the dismissal of President Castillo; and whether they (1) have made, and (2) will make, representations to the government of Peru about the 46 deaths related to the protests.

Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The UK supports the Peruvian Government and constitutional order. We welcome initiatives to strengthen democracy, as well as dialogue to calm the ongoing protests. In light of reports of abuses and the deaths of protestors, it is important that the Peruvian Government does all it can to protect lives, and that there is greater transparency of how the Peruvian Government is ensuring the protection of rights. Our Embassy in Lima has raised this with senior Peruvian Government politicians. Minister Rutley also raised concerns in my meeting with the Peruvian ambassador recently on the 25th January 2023, as did our trade minister in his recent meeting with the Peruvian Minister of Finance.

Department for Work and Pensions

Poverty: Children

Lord Pendry: To ask His Majesty's Government, further tothe report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group Child of the North Child Poverty and the Cost of Living Crisis, published on 23 January, what steps they are taking to help mitigate the effects of the increased cost of living forfamilies in areas with the highest levels of child poverty.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: The Government is committed to reducing child poverty and supporting low-income families. We will spend over £245bn through the welfare system in 2022/23 including £111bn on people of working age. In 2023/24, subject to parliamentary approval, we are uprating all benefit rates and State Pensions by 10.1%. In order to increase the number of households who can benefit from these uprating decisions the benefit cap levels are also increasing by the same amount.The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living this winter and is taking action to help. The Government's Energy Price Guarantee will save a typical British household around £900 this winter, based on what energy prices would have been under the current price cap - reducing bills by roughly a third. This is in addition to the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. For those who require additional support the current Household Support Fund, running in England from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023, is providing £421 million of funding. The devolved administrations have been allocated £79 million through the Barnett formula.  The Household Support Fund will continue until March 2024. This year long extension allows Local Authorities in England to continue to provide discretionary support to those most in need to help with the significantly rising cost of living. The Devolved Administrations will receive consequential funding as usual to spend at their discretion. In addition, for 2023/24, households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to £900 in Cost of Living Payments. This will be split into three payments of around £300 each across the 2023/24 financial year. A separate £300 payment will be made to pensioner households on top of their Winter Fuel Payments and individuals in receipt of eligible disability benefits will receive a £150 payment. Further to this, the amended Energy Price Guarantee will save the average UK household £500 in 2023/24. With 1.16 million job vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on supporting parents to move into, and progress in work, an approach which is based on clear evidence about the importance of employment - particularly where it is full-time - in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children. To further support those who are in work, from 1 April 2023 subject to parliamentary approval, the National Living Wage (NLW) will increase by 9.7% to £10.42 an hour for workers aged 23 and over - the largest ever cash increase for the NLW.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Agriculture: Genetic Engineering

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with the governments of EU member states regarding the use of gene editing in agriculture.

Lord Benyon: Government officials have ongoing discussions with EU member states. In November last year, officials from Defra, and from the Food Standards Agency, took part in a global regulators meeting, organised by the US Food and Drug Administration Mission to Europe, which included representatives from EU Member States. This covered regulatory approaches to biotechnology, including gene editing in agriculture. Since then, Defra officials have met with Netherlands officials to discuss gene editing.

Home Office

Police: Hunt Saboteurs

Lord Swire: To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate theyhave made of how many working hours have been spent on policing issues raised by hunt saboteurs in each of the last five years; and how this is broken down by each police force in England and Wales.

Lord Swire: To ask His Majesty's Government what estimatethey have made of the cost of policing issues related to pursuing hunt saboteurs in each of the last five years.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: The Home Office does not collect data on the impact of police resourcing in pursuit of hunt saboteurs.

Asylum: Temporary Accommodation

Lord Rosser: To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum seekers arecurrently housed in public accommodation; and what was the cost of providing that accommodation for each month in (1) 2021, and (2) 2022.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: The Home Office does not publish a breakdown of statistics which disaggregates the number of asylum seekers accommodated in specific types of accommodation, the duration of their receipt of support or the number at specific stages of the asylum process. These figures are not available in a reportable format and to provide the information could only be done at disproportionate cost. Costs are subject to change depending on numbers being accommodated within the asylum system. Accommodation costs are considered to be commercially confidential, therefore the Home Office does not publish this information.

Undocumented Migrants: Electronic Tagging

Baroness Redfern: To ask His Majesty's Government how many illegal migrants have (1) breached their tagging conditions, and (2) are awaiting court proceedings as a result.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: A pilot was launched on 15 June 2022 with the purpose of establishing whether electronic monitoring is an effective way to improve and maintain regular contact management with asylum claimants who arrive in the UK via unnecessary and dangerous routes, in order to progress their immigration case.There are no cases awaiting court proceedings.

Honour Based Violence

Lord Rosser: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the increase in so called 'honour-based' abuse crimes identified in the Home Office'sStatistics on so called ‘honour-based’ abuse offences, England and Wales, 2021 to 2022,published on 20 October 2022;and what steps they are taking to reduce such crimes.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: So-called 'Honour’-based abuse (HBA) is a terrible form of abuse, and we are clear that we will not allow political or cultural sensitivities to get in the way of tackling it. The Home Office has, since April 2019, required police forces to collect data relating to HBA offences which they have recorded, and has published three annual data sets for these data.Data for the year ending March 2022 showed that the police recorded 2,887 HBA-flagged offences, a 6% increase on the previous year. As with all police recorded crime figures, these data cover only offences that were reported to and recorded by the police. HBA is a hidden crime and victims can be reluctant to report to the police or other authorities. These data, therefore, are likely to represent only a small proportion of the actual HBA offences committed in the year ending March 2022.The increase seen in recorded offences of HBA in the last year may be due to more victims coming forward to report these crimes, improvements in crime recording, including a better understanding of what constitutes HBA, and a genuine increase in these crimes.To tackle HBA crimes, amongst other things the Government:in the past year, has introduced legislation to ban virginity testing and hymenoplasty throughout the UK and to expand the offence of forced marriage in England and Wales;committed in the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy that the College of Policing would produce new guidance on HBA for police first responders (published in December 2021) and police investigators (to be published by autumn 2022);in December 2022 launched an invitation to tender for a feasibility study relating to measuring the prevalence of forced marriage and female genital mutilation in England and Wales;through its Forced Marriage Unit, provided advice and support for 337 victims or potential victims of forced marriage, and trained 1,537 professionals, during 2021; andis providing up to £165,000 to Karma Nirvana in 2021/22 for its national HBA helpline, which enabled Karma Nirvana to provide support for 1,833 victims between April and December 2022.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Levelling Up Fund

Lord Rogan: To ask His Majesty's Government what was the amount allocated per head of population in round two of the Levelling Up Fund to (1) England, (2) Northern Ireland, (3) Scotland, and (4) Wales.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: Details of the assessment and decision-making process for round 2 of the Levelling Up Fund are available in the published (attached) explanatory note(opens in a new tab). A detailed breakdown of funding requested and awarded in round 2 can be found in the published (attached) geographic and thematic analysis(opens in a new tab). The department does not request nor record the costs incurred by applicants to the Fund. As set out in the (attached) Written Ministerial Statement(opens in a new tab of 19 January, I am pleased to say there will be a third round of the Fund and we will outline more information on this in due course.Unsuccessful applicants to this second round will be provided written feedback to support future applications into levelling up funds.The published Levelling Up Fund Round 2 technical note set out the additional considerations that could be taken into account when making funding decisions. This included “ taking into account other investment in a local area, including investment made from the first round of the Fund to encourage a spread of levelling up funds across places.” The published explanatory note outlines the specifics of how decisions for the Levelling Up Fund Round 2 were made. Applicants to the Fund were informed of the outcome of decisions by letter sent on the 18 January.  Explanatory note (pdf, 167.0KB)Geographic and thematic analysis (pdf, 76.3KB)Written Statement (pdf, 96.5KB)

Treasury

Northern Ireland Protocol: Costs

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers byBaroness Penn on 5 January (HL4428 and HL4429), what assessment they have made of the cost to business in addition to the Trader Support Service.

Baroness Penn: The TSS is a free service to business and aims to remove additional cost burdens to business of the requirements of the Protocol.  Data released in September 2022 in the Summary of movements of goods into Northern Ireland from Great Britain 2021, shows that over 90 per cent of declarations made for goods movements from Great Britain to Northern Ireland were facilitated by the TSS. Further information is available on GOV.UK   HMG recently conducted an extensive programme of business engagement in Summer 2022, speaking to over 200 businesses and representative organisations covering various sectors over several weeks, which confirmed that the Protocol is continuing to cause practical problems for traders.  The Government is engaging in constructive dialogue with the European Union, with the aim of fixing those problems.